美国国家公共电台 NPR Critics See Legal, Political Risks If Trump Keeps Ties To His Businesses

Critics See Legal, Political Risks If Trump¹ Keeps Ties To His Businesses

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The top-ranked Democrat³ on the House Oversight⁴ Committee is calling for congressional hearings into President-elect Donald Trump's business interests. Maryland Congressman⁵ Elijah Cummings says Trump plans to turn over operation of his companies to three of his grown children who are also on his presidential transition team. The arrangement is raising questions about whether Trump can avoid conflicts of interest once he's sworn in. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE⁶: Federal law says anyone who works for the executive branch of the government has to avoid conflicts of interest. The treasury⁷ secretary cannot own stock in a big bank, for instance. And Richard Painter, who served as ethics⁸ adviser⁹ under President George W. Bush, says different administrations have typically been pretty scrupulous¹⁰ about following the law.

RICHARD PAINTER: Whenever anyone was even considering a position that would be appointed by the president, I would discuss with that person the need to sell off assets that create conflicts of interest.

ZARROLI: But ironically, the law that bars conflicts of interest for, say, a deputy assistant cabinet secretary doesn't apply to the president or vice¹¹ president. Which means President-elect Trump can continue to operate his vast network of businesses while serving as president. Trump has said he won't do that. He says he'll let his three grown children run his companies instead. Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and U.S. attorney, suggested on CNN yesterday that Trump needs to keep the businesses operating to be fair to his children.

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RUDY GIULIANI: Remember, they can't work in the government because of the government rule against nepotism¹². So you'd be putting him out of work.

ZARROLI: But Giuliani, who is a top adviser to the president-elect, also said later that Trump should consider some kind of legal arrangement to remove himself completely from running his companies. Among government ethics experts, the idea of a sitting president's family running businesses for him raises all kinds of red flags. Meredith McGehee is with the nonpartisan group Issue One.

MEREDITH MCGEHEE: If we heard a similar situation described of a country in maybe Africa or another part of the world about the role that the family was going to play while their father was in the presidency¹³, we'd often refer to that as kind of the - one of the features of a banana republic.

ZARROLI: The Trump family does considerable business with overseas banks and governments. McGehee asks, what happens when one of Trump's children goes out to negotiate a deal?

MCGEHEE: What's the message to the people they're dealing¹⁴ with? Is it you better deal with me or there's going to be retribution, or I really want to deal with you because I think there's really some reward for my business?

ZARROLI: And Richard Painter says Trump risks running afoul of the Emoluments¹⁵ Clause of the Constitution, which bars U.S. government employees from getting paid by foreign countries or the companies they own. Painter says at worst, that could lead to a constitutional crisis between Congress and the president.

PAINTER: There are enormous risks to a Trump presidency - legal risks and other political risks - if he keep these business interests while he serves as president.

PAINTER: At best, Trump's business ties are likely to pop up repeatedly as a source of suspicion and scrutiny¹⁶, says McGehee.

MCGEHEE: The more of these kinds of ethical¹⁷ distractions¹⁸ that arise, I think the worse it is for President-elect Trump to actually come in and do the job he says he wants to do.

ZARROLI: And, she says, that could impede¹⁹ the country's ability to move forward after the long, contentious²⁰ presidential campaign. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

8 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 scrupulous   

adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的

参考例句：

• She is scrupulous to a degree.她非常谨慎。
• Poets are not so scrupulous as you are.诗人并不像你那样顾虑多。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 nepotism   

n.任人唯亲；裙带关系

参考例句：

• The congressman lashed the president for his nepotism.国会议员抨击总统搞裙带关系。
• Many will regard his appointment as the kind of nepotism British banking ought to avoid.很多人会把他的任命看作是英国银行业应该避免的一种裙带关系。

13 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

15 emoluments   

n.报酬，薪水( emolument的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The emoluments of this profession is not satisfactory. 此行业的报酬不令人满意。 来自辞典例句
• Emoluments connected with this position include free education for the children. 与这职务有关的酬劳包括为子女提供免费教育。 来自互联网

16 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

17 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

18 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 impede   

v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止

参考例句：

• One shouldn't impede other's progress.一个人不应该妨碍他人进步。
• The muddy roads impede our journey.我们的旅游被泥泞的道路阻挠了。

20 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。